Textbook Details
by backthehellup
Summary: their relationship is something even the dictionary won't be able to define. [ Reynico ABCs ]
1. Alkoholleichen

**Summary**: "he doesn't hear any sobbing so that's reassuring"  
**Pairing**: n/a. brOTP Reynico  
**Time frame**: ( these drabbles will probably be set around different timelines but in the same universe, so this is going to be a heads up ) early-20s!Reyna&Nico  
**Notes**: written well into the night with _S.I.N.G. _blaring through my earphones. i'm so sorry ( i'm not ). 

* * *

**A is for Alkoholleichen** ( _German_ )

Drunk people wandering home late at night or early in the morning.

* * *

Nico is fairly surprised when someone knocks on his door with great urgency near two in the freaking morning ( granted, he _should _be in bed already but, _eh_, Hannibal calls, and he has never been any good with first nights in unknown places ). He's even more surprised when he opens the door to find one-half of the praetors of the twelfth legion leaning on his doorway while seemingly nursing a bottle of beer in one hand. He's not surprised though when he sees her holding two more, the bottles' necks in between her fingers, on her other hand.

"Heard you were in town." Reyna says, mumbles really. Nico isn't quite sure how he hears her, but he's quite certain it has something to do with how New Rome seems to be acting like a ghost town ( ironic, but justifiable. It _is _nearing quarter past two already ). She doesn't really smell like beer yet ( he can still trace the faint aroma of lavender and mint and early morning dew ) so he thinks she's still good to go.

"Didn't hear you were off getting drunk." he replies almost monotonously. Nico still steps aside though and makes enough room so she can slip in.

"It's not a school night, di Angelo." she mocks with that barely noticeable Spanish lilt that makes the Italian in him grunt in frustration because why is Reyna even drinking ? ( the more important question should have been how did she even get to acquire said booze and managed to sneak off to his apartment without anyone questioning anything, but he lets that slide for now ). Reyna doesn't wait for a reply and sprawls across his couch. He should be annoyed but he isn't, and instead turns up the volume for the both of them.

( He lets her pick whatever movie or soap opera she wants because it's her stash anyway and when Reyna picks the sappy telenovela Nico doesn't even have to ask why she's there anymore )

Three bottles in and Reyna's hurling in his bathroom. Nico is busy being the good friend that he is by pulling back her braid while simultaneously trying to find the aspirin he _knows _he keeps in his emergency medicine case.

"I need to get you home." he says, as if he's used to this. Her head is still uncomfortably near his toilet, but the barfing sounds have stopped so he guesses it's okay. Or as okay as it's going to be for the night ( he doesn't hear any sobbing so that's reassuring ).

Nico looks down at her when Reyna doesn't respond. Her head is tilted upwards and there's that lopsided little smile that tells him _uh-oh_, _no more for you_, before she speaks quietly, "I'm home."

( He lets her crash on his couch with his jacket wrapped around her frame that night. Nico forgets how tiny and fragile she really is when she wears her armor )


	2. Bilita Mpash

**Summary**: "He forgets how to breathe when brown eyes meets his"  
**Pairing**: subtle Reynico. familial!Bianca&Nico  
**Time frame**: after the war, late teens!Nico  
**Notes**: this one's kind of confusing but i kind of like it. ( also, thank you for the follows, but reviews are equally nice too! :'D )

* * *

**B is for Bilita Mpash** ( _Bantu_ )

The opposite of a nightmare. Not merely a "good" dream, but a "legendary, blissful state where all is forgive and forgotten."

* * *

Children of Hades never dream much. It is both their curse and their blessing. Nico is always sleeping anyway, and he appreciates the nothingness present with his dreamless rests, but at the same time he wonders why Reyna looks so blissful when her eyes are closed and the armor is gone .

( Nico remembers falling asleep, cold and alone, but doesn't quite remember how he is sitting in this room of white. There is a little girl, no older than five maybe, with him. She doesn't seem to pay much attention to him at all.

But then she turns around and suddenly she is a little older than fourteen maybe, with a braid that falls below her shoulder blades and freckles scattered across her nose and silver silver silver.

He forgets how to breathe when brown eyes meets his )

Nico opens his eyes and drowns in obsidian. Reyna's face hovers a careful distance away from him but her eyes are bright, shining despite the dark, and he has to rack his brain for a good full minute to realize that he has fallen asleep on her lap. And she hasn't killed him yet, so he takes it as a sign of trust.

Her finger traces his cheek in an almost ghost-like manner before she tells him simply, "You were crying." He stops her hand and squeezes it lightly in almost reassuring manner.

"I had a dream." he whispers and Nico wonders how she hears him despite his quiet voice. Reyna raises a brow slightly, as if the thought of him dreaming is something shocking for the young praetor. She knows the implications of a dreaming demi-god, and usually it's not something you talk about.

"Was it a prophecy of some sort?" she asks before Nico reaches up, his fingers barely touching her skin until he brushes a stubborn strand of hair away from her face. He gives her some credit for not even so much as blinking. Reyna then quietly adds, "...a nightmare?"

( "Don't worry about me, Nico." she whispers and he tries to scream her name, Bianca Bianca _Bianca, _but he finds no voice.

Her hand is warm and comforting and is home in every sense of the word when she places it tenderly on his cheek )

"Nah, it was just a dream."

( He doesn't catch the upward quirk of her lips before he closes his eyes and wakes up )


	3. Chantepleurer

**Summary**: No, he's not really angry. It's more of an emptiness.  
**Pairing**: Reynico  
**Time frame**: during!War ; AU. ( I know I said it should be set in the same universe, but I'll make a note whenever they're deviant from the "supposed" timeline. haha )  
**Notes**: thank you, so much for the favourites, follows and the reviews! I got a little stuck with this one because I never really found one I really liked? ahh, well.

* * *

**C is for Chantepleurer** ( _French_ )

Singing and crying at the same time.

* * *

Nico remembers his mother very, very faintly. He doesn't quite recall her like how Hazel does, and he's both a little upset and a little relieved that he doesn't. What he does remember is a voice, singing a lullaby in his native tongue, soft and sweet. He remembers Bianca singing to him when the nightmares of skeleton arms and ghostly soldiers haunt him. Nico recalls someone else singing the exact same song though, with a voice just as melodic and a smile just as warm as Bianca's.

But now is not the time for nostalgic memories. Now, he is at war and the girl he has spent what feels like the longest fourteen days of his life has taken a hit meant for him. Suddenly, nothing is warm and nothing is sweet.

Reyna falls to her knees, defiant as she tries to raise to her feet with her sword as her support. Nico thinks everything is moving in slow motion when he sees the monster hover above her, raising sharpened nails before he sees them piercing the other side of her cape.

Anger overtakes his senses and the next thing he knows, there is only golden dust scattered across the field and on his clothes. Nico quickly gets on his knees as he gathers Reyna into his arms.

"Calm down, calm down." he mumbles, more to himself than to her. She is always calm, even when there is a gaping hole in the chink of her golden armor. "The Apollo kids, they'll be here soon." he explains, pushing hair out of her eyes and accidentally smearing more blood across her forehead. "They can sing a song to Apollo - to heal. Just-just, hang in there."

"Why... don't you sing?"a voice wheezes out with an airy breath. Nico jumps slightly, but glares and grimaces at the little smile Reyna cracks while she hacks out a lung when trying to laugh.

"Shut up." Nico whispers and puts pressure on her wound, trying to stop the bleeding. Reyna's face contorts to an expression of pain and he hears her almost whimper. Almost.

"So... you really -" a sharp intake of breath "- won't grant a... girl's dying wish?" he snaps his head to look back at her. She tries not to drop the teasing tone in her voice. Nico finds this oddly applaudable, if the situation hadn't been so dire.

"Don't talk." he murmurs in that quiet commanding voice of his. His hands are starting to shake but he doesn't pay them any mind. He leans down further, his forehead touching hers as he says against her chapped lips, "and you're not going to die, do you hear me, Praetor?"

"Fortuna is not on my side." she explains with a tiny little smile.

"No." he says firmly, a little louder this time. "No, you've been pestering me about that lullaby ever since you heard me humming." It was a story for another time. "And you can continue doing that after _this_."

( You're going to make it, Reyna, he wants to say but his words are caught in his throat. He's still so awkward and distant and he hates himself for it when she's so, so close. )

"Nico, please." she pleads quietly. Queens don't beg, he wants to tease her, but the urgency in her voice makes him bite his tongue. "Sing me to sleep."

( If it has to be anyone, I want it to be you )

He remembers suddenly that he told her about his mother, or what little he remembers of her, and of Bianca, and of a lullaby he grew up listening to. Nico sees obsidian orbs soften and he gives up trying to convince her to stop.

"...Fa la ninna, fa la nanna." he begins, a soft murmur while he haphazardly tears part of her purple toga to wrap around her bleeding head carefully. She smiles, but her eyes are growing darker. "Nella - Nella braccia... Della mamma."

"Fa la ninna bel bambin," he croaks out and cradles her head closer to his chest. He chokes on his own sobs while doing his best to curl up closer to her - as close he can get. She's so cold now, he suddenly notices, so, so cold. Nico readjusts his hold on Reyna. He lets one arm hold her up, trying to get her to breathe as much air as possible while simultaneously keeping her mere centimeters away for warmth. Nico's bad arm fumbles with her hand, loosening the iron-grip she keeps on her golden dagger. "Fa la nanna bambin bel."

His voice is shaky as he sings and he is entirely out of practice. Reyna doesn't seem to mind though. He reaches up shakily with his free hand, brushes stray locks of hair away from her face. She's paling and he wonders angrily where the Apollo kids are.

No, he's not really angry. It's more of an emptiness.

( When Percy and the others find him, both his tears and his song hasn't stopped yet. Jason mourns with him, silent and solemn )


End file.
